Baseball Rankings Week 20-Top 15 Teams

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Weekly rankings include all games played from March 31st through August 18th. See where your favorite team is ranked and why.

1.--ATLANTA BRAVES--(79-43)-Braves actually lost two out of three to Colorado this weekend. Pitcher Tom Glavine pitched a gem last Wednesday, in that 1-0 win over San Francisco. His 240th career win. He improved to 16-6 on the season. He tossed seven innings, allowing five hits and only one walk. Glavine is tied with Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in games started this season(27). John Smoltz earned his 42nd save in that game, but now has 43. Outfielder Gary Sheffield went 3-4, knocking in the only run in that win over the Giants.

2.--ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS--(78-46)-Diamondbacks won eight in a row until losing Sunday to the Chicago Cubs 3-2. And they have been winning without their star player, Luis Gonzalez, who is injured. Pitcher Curt Schilling won his major league leading 20th game Friday night in a 2-1 win over the Cubs. He struck out 12 batters. He is the fastest to win 20 since John Smoltz won his 20th in game 121 in 1996. Now he has won 20 games or more twice in his career. I see Schilling and Randy Johnson being co-Cy Young Award winners this season. Johnson leads the majors in strikeouts with 251-Schilling has 250. Close!

3.--NEW YORK YANKEES--(77-45)-Yankees beat Seattle two out of three this weekend. Winning Saturday 8-3, behind the pitching of Mike "Moose" Mussina. Mussina improved his record to 15-6. He had five strikeouts and allowed two earned runs. Sophomore second baseman Alfonso Soriano became the only second baseman to hit 30 homeruns and steal 30 or more bases in a season. Manager Joe Torre stated "we still haven't seen his full potential yet". Shortstop Derek Jeter hit his 14th homerun, Jorge Posada hit his 20th and John Vander Wal hit his sixth. Hot hitting centerfielder Bernie Williams almost tied a major league record. He had 11 consecutive hits this week. The record is 12, held by Mike "Pinky" Higgins of the Boston Red Sox in 1938 and Walt Dropo of the 1952 Detroit Tigers. Pitcher Roger Clemens won his 290th career game, when he beat Kansas City 10-5 last Tuesday. Clemens is 10-4 so far this season. ERA a bit high at 4.25. He leads the team with 146 K's.

4.--SEATTLE MARINERS--(75-49)-Mariners finally beat the Yankees, and Roger Clemens Sunday 5-2, behind the pitching of Joel Pineiro. He is 13-4 and having a great season. His ERA is 3.20. DH Edgar Martinez hit his 10th homerun of the season in that win. He went 3-4 with three RBI's and two runs scored. He's batting .317. Second baseman Bret Boone leads the team with 81 RBI's. He's not doing as well as last season, but he will drive in over 100 runs if the strike doesn't stop him.

5.--ANAHEIM ANGELS--(74-49)-Anaheim only a half game behind Seattle in A.L. West. We are going to have a shootout in the west it seems. Angels rolled over Cleveland Sunday 4-1. Pitcher Kevin Appier ran his record to 11-9. His ERA is 3.99. He's pitching better and better. Closer Troy Percival earned his 30th save. I hope the strike doesn't mess up their chances for a playoff spot. Catcher Shawn Wooten went 2-4 with one RBI and one run scored in the win over Cleveland. He hit his third double of the year. Third baseman Troy Glaus hit his 19th double. Alex Ochoa went 2-3 with one RBI. He hit his fourth double of the season. Angels started the season with a 6-14 start. Now they are 25 games over .500. Haven't done that since Aug. 20th, 1995. Team is 41-24 playing at home so far.

6.--MINNESOTA TWINS--(73-52)-Twins whipped Boston on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball 6-2. Pitcher Rick Reed got the win to improve to 11-6. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz hit his ninth homerun of the year. He went 3-4 with two RBI's. Centerfielder Torii Hunter went 2-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Pitcher Joe Mays pitched a gem Friday night in the Twins win over Boston 5-0. He outpitched Pedro Martinez for the win. He is now 2-1. He pitched a complete game, allowing only two hits. Though his ERA is 5.92.

7.--BOSTON REDSOX--(70-52)-Sox lost two out of three to Minnesota this weekend. Trail the Yankees by seven games in the A.L. East. Starting to fall apart like last season. Sorry, manager Grady Little wouldn't be my man at the helm. Manny Ramirez power numbers are way down this season. He did miss more than a month with a broken finger.

8.--OAKLAND ATHLETICS--(73-51)-The A's and pitcher Barry Zito beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4 Sunday. Zito improved to 17-5. His ERA is 3.01. Outfielder Terrence Long hit two homeruns to give him 11 on the year and Jermaine Dye hit his 21st double of the year, driving in a run.

9.--LOS ANGELES DODGERS--(71-53)-Dodgers beat the New York Mets Sunday 2-1, and the rest of the weekend too. Pitcher Andy Ashby ran his record to 9-9. His ERA is 3.46. He threw seven innings, allowing only four hits. Closer Eric Gagne earned his 43rd save to tie him with Atlanta's John Smoltz. Outfielder Shawn Green went 1-2 with one RBI. He leads the team in RBI's with 93. He quietly does his job each year.

10.--ST. LOUIS CARDINALS--(68-53)-Cardinals beat Philadelphia Sunday behind the great pitching of ace Matt Morris. Morris is now 15-7. He had six strikeouts. ERA is 3.25. Infielder Edgar Renteria hit a grand slam, his ninth homerun of the year. It was his first slam of his career. Albert Pujols is not having a sophomore jinx year. He leads the team in RBI's with 93 and in homeruns with 28. Batting .298. Cardinals lead Houston by five games in the N.L. Central.

11.--SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS--(66-56)-Giants lost three to the Florida Marlins this weekend. This team is really slipping. They are now 11 games out of first place in the N.L. West. Giants are 32-31 playing on the road. Slugger Barry Bonds hit his 601st career homerun this past week against Florida in Saturday's 7-3 loss. His 34th of the year.

12.--CINCINNATI REDS--(63-59)-Reds beat Houston two out of three this weekend. Won a strange game Sunday 2-1 in 10 innings. First baseman Sean Casey hit a walk-off homerun to win the game. His sixth of the year. They had a two hour and 56 minute rain delay in the third innings, the actual game lasting only two hours and 36 minutes. Austin Kearns hit his 10th homerun of the season in that win for the Reds.

13.--HOUSTON ASTROS--(64-59)-Astros and pitcher Roy Oswalt beat the Reds Saturday 6-1. Oswalt improved to 15-6. He pitched eight strong innings, allowing six hits. Jose Vizcaino hit his second homerun of the year and outfielder Lance Berkman went 3-5 with two RBI's and one run scored. He hit his 29th double of the year too.

14.--MONTREAL EXPOS--(61-62)-Expos crushed San Diego 9-2 Sunday. Pitcher Tomokazu Ohka improved to 10-6 with the win. ERA is 3.33. Outfielder Jose Macias hit his seventh homerun of the year and second baseman Jose Vidro hit two homeruns to give him 15 on the year. Outfielder Brad Wilkerson hit his 15th too. Vladimir Guerrero went 1-5. He leads the team in hitting with a .330 average.

15.--FLORIDA MARLINS--(60-63)-Fish beat San Francisco three in a row this weekend. Pitcher A.J. Burnett pitched his fifth shutout of the season, which leads the majors. He beat SF 3-0 Sunday. Burnett pitched a complete game and improved his record to 12-9. He had nine strikeouts. His ERA is 3.25. Outfielder Juan Encarnacion hit his 18th homerun of the year. He has 62 RBI's on the year. He came over from Detroit in July.


Written by: Keith Thronson Mobile, Alabama